Over the air measurement system and method

ABSTRACT

An over-the-air measurement system is provided for analyzing a device under test. The over-the-air measurement system includes a first measurement unit, a first antenna connected to the first measurement unit, a second measurement unit, and a second antenna connected to the second measurement unit. The first measurement unit is configured to establish a communication link, within a communication link frequency range, to the device under test via the first antenna. The second measurement unit is configured to measure radio frequency radiation, within a measurement frequency range, of the device under test via the second antenna. The communication link frequency range and the measurement frequency range do not overlap each other.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation-in-Part and claims the benefit of theearlier filing date under 35 U.S.C. § 120 from U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/706,143 (filed 2017 Sep. 15), which is aContinuation-in-Part and claims the benefit of the earlier filing dateunder 35 U.S.C. § 120 from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/607,317(filed 2017 May 26), the entireties of which are incorporated byreference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to an over-the-air measurement system and anover-the-air measurement method for wirelessly investigating a deviceunder test, thereby ensuring measurement efficiency and accuracy.

BACKGROUND

Generally, in times of an increasing number of applications providingwireless connectivity capabilities, there is a growing need of anover-the-air measurement system and a corresponding over-the-airmeasurement method especially in order to verify the proper functioningof the applications in an efficient and accurate manner.

The publication US20110043418A1 relates to a method for measuring aradiation power generated from a device under test from an output of ameasurement antenna, wherein the device under test is arranged in anellipsoid enclosed space such that a radiation center of the radio waveis substantially coincided with the neighborhood of a first focal point.The radio wave radiated from the device under test and reflected fromthe wall surface is received by a receiving antenna arranged in theneighborhood a second focal point thereby to measure the total radiatedpower of the device under test from the output signal of the receivingantenna. One of the device under test and the receiving antenna is movedalong the axis passing through the first and second focal points, andbased on the measurement value maximizing the output signal power of thereceiving antenna, calculating the total radiated power of the deviceunder test. Due to the complex measurement setup, however, measurementsare expensive, and thus not efficient, whereby a high accuracy cannoteven be ensured because of an error-prone adjustment of the device undertest with respect to the focal points.

Accordingly, there is a need for an over-the-air measurement approachfor wirelessly investigating a device under test, whereby measurementefficiency and accuracy are ensured.

SOME EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention advantageously address theforegoing requirements and needs, as well as others, by providing anover-the-air measurement system and an over-the-air measurement methodfor wirelessly investigating a device under test, whereby measurementefficiency and accuracy are ensured.

According to a first aspect of the invention, an over-the-airmeasurement system for investigating a device under test is provided.The over-the-air measurement system comprises a first measurement unit,a first antenna connected to the first measurement unit, a secondmeasurement unit, and a second antenna connected to the secondmeasurement unit. In this context, the first measurement unit isconfigured to establish a communication link to the device under testwith the aid of the first antenna within a communication link frequencyrange, whereas the second measurement unit is configured to measure aradio frequency radiation of the device under test with the aid of thesecond antenna within a measurement frequency range. In addition tothis, the communication link frequency range and the measurementfrequency range do not overlap each other. Advantageously, expensivefiltering is not required for accurate measurements.

According to a first implementation form of the over-the-air measurementsystem of the first aspect, the communication link comprises at leastone uplink channel and at least one downlink channel. Advantageously,multifaceted measurements can be performed.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement system of the first aspect, the communication link frequencyrange and the measurement frequency range are adjacent to each otherwith a frequency gap. Advantageously, measurement errors can further bereduced.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement system of the first aspect, the first measurement unitcomprises the second measurement unit. Advantageously, complexity, andthus costs, can further be reduced.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement system of the first aspect, the over-the-air measurementsystem further comprises a positioning unit configured to position thedevice under test with respect to the first antenna and/or the secondantenna. Advantageously, the antenna can be adjusted especially in orderto measure off center of a radio frequency beam.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement system of the first aspect, the over-the-air measurementsystem further comprises a radio frequency reflector configured toreflect, and/or to parallelize, radio frequency beams emitted by thefirst antenna and/or the second antenna. Advantageously, accuracy andefficiency can further be increased.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement system of the first aspect, the first measurement unit isconfigured to transmit a beam lock command to the device under test withthe aid of the first antenna. Additionally or alternatively, the secondmeasurement unit is configured to transmit a beam lock command to thedevice under test with the aid of the second antenna. Advantageously,measurement accuracy can further be increased.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement system of the first aspect, the first measurement unit andthe second measurement unit are configured to exchange theirfunctionality with respect to each other. Advantageously, measurementefficiency can further be increased.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement system of the first aspect, with respect to the device undertest, at least one of the first antenna and the second antenna is placedin near-field or far-field. Advantageously, near-field and/or far-fieldcharacteristics can accurately be investigated.

According to a second aspect of the invention, an over-the-airmeasurement method for investigating a device under test is provided.The over-the-air measurement method comprises the steps of establishinga communication link to the device under test with the aid of a firstantenna connected to a first measurement unit within a communicationlink frequency range, and measuring a radio frequency radiation of thedevice under test with the aid of a second antenna connected to a secondmeasurement unit within a measurement frequency range. In this context,the communication link frequency range and the measurement frequencyrange do not overlap each other. Advantageously, expensive filtering isnot required for accurate measurements.

According to a first implementation form of the over-the-air measurementmethod of the second aspect, the communication link comprises at leastone uplink channel and at least one downlink channel. Advantageously,multifaceted measurements can be performed.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement method of the second aspect, the communication linkfrequency range and the measurement frequency range are adjacent to eachother with a frequency gap. Advantageously, measurement errors can befurther reduced.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement method of the second aspect, the first measurement unitcomprises the second measurement unit. Advantageously, complexity, andthus costs, can further be reduced.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement method of the second aspect, the over-the-air measurementmethod further comprises the step of positioning the device under testwith respect to the first antenna and/or the second antenna with the aidof a positioning unit. Advantageously, the antenna can be adjustedespecially in order to measure off center of a radio frequency beam.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement method of the second aspect, the over-the-air measurementmethod further comprises the step of reflecting and/or parallelizingradio frequency beams emitted by the first antenna and/or the secondantenna with the aid of a radio frequency reflector. Advantageously,accuracy and efficiency can further be increased.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement method of the second aspect, the over-the-air measurementmethod further comprises the step of transmitting a beam lock command tothe device under test with the aid of the first antenna connected to thefirst measurement unit. Additionally or alternatively, the over-the-airmeasurement method further comprises the step of transmitting a beamlock command to the device under test with the aid of the second antennaconnected to the second measurement unit. Advantageously, measurementaccuracy can further be increased.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement method of the second aspect, the over-the-air measurementmethod further comprises the step of exchanging the functionality of thefirst measurement unit and the second measurement unit with respect toeach other. Advantageously, measurement efficiency can further beincreased.

According to a further implementation form of the over-the-airmeasurement method of the second aspect, the over-the-air measurementmethod further comprises the step of placing at least one of the firstantenna and the second antenna in near-field or far-field with respectto the device under test. Advantageously, near-field and/or far-fieldcharacteristics can accurately be investigated.

Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the present inventionare readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply byillustrating a number of particular embodiments and implementations,including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the presentinvention. The present invention is also capable of other and differentembodiments, and its several details can be modified in various obviousrespects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regardedas illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example,and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements,and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an example over-the-air measurement system, in accordancewith example embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an example positioner to mount the device under test and toadjust the position of the device under test, within an exampleover-the-air measurement system, in accordance with example embodimentsof the present invention; and

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of an example over-the-air measurement method,in accordance with example embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An over-the-air measurement system and an over-the-air measurementmethod for wirelessly investigating a device under test, wherebymeasurement efficiency and accuracy are ensured, are described. In thefollowing description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the invention. It is apparent, however, that theinvention may be practiced without these specific details or with anequivalent arrangement. In other instances, well-known structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring the invention.

A processor, unit, module or component (as referred to herein) may becomposed of software component(s), which are stored in a memory or othercomputer-readable storage medium, and executed by one or more processorsor CPUs of the respective devices. A module or unit may alternatively becomposed of hardware component(s) or firmware component(s), or acombination of hardware, firmware and/or software components. Further,with respect to the various example embodiments described herein, whilecertain of the functions are described as being performed by certaincomponents or modules (or combinations thereof), such descriptions areprovided as examples and are thus not intended to be limiting.Accordingly, any such functions may be envisioned as being performed byother components or modules (or combinations thereof), without departingfrom the spirit and general scope of the present invention. Moreover,the methods, processes and approaches described herein may beprocessor-implemented using processing circuitry that may comprise oneor more microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other devicesoperable to be configured or programmed to implement the systems and/ormethods described herein. For implementation on such devices that areoperable to execute software instructions, the flow diagrams and methodsdescribed herein may be implemented in processor instructions stored ina computer-readable medium, such as executable software stored in acomputer memory store.

FIG. 1 shows an example over-the-air measurement system 10 for analyzinga device under test (DUT) 11, in accordance with example embodiments ofthe present invention. The over-the-air measurement system 10 comprisesa first measurement unit 12 a, a first antenna 13 a connected to thefirst measurement unit 12 a, a second measurement unit 12 b, and asecond antenna 13 b connected to the second measurement unit 12 b.Further, the over-the-air measurement system 10 comprises a reflector 18(e.g., a reflector of parabolic shape) for reflecting or deflecting,respectively, radio frequency beams 15 a, 15 b, for example, emitted bythe first antenna 13 a. Additionally or alternatively, the reflector 18may also reflect or deflect radio frequency beams emitted by the deviceunder test 11 and/or by the second antenna 13 b.

Further, the first measurement unit 12 a may be configured to establisha communication link to the device under test 11 with the aid of thefirst antenna 13 a within a communication link frequency range, whereasthe second measurement unit 12 b may be configured to measure a radiofrequency radiation of the device under test 11 with the aid of thesecond antenna 13 b within a measurement frequency range. By way ofexample, the communication link frequency range and the measurementfrequency range do not overlap each other. By way of further example,the communication link may comprise at least one uplink channel and atleast one downlink channel. By way of further example, the communicationlink frequency range and the measurement frequency range mayadditionally or alternatively be adjacent to each other with a frequencygap. By way of further example, the first measurement unit 12 a maycontain the second measurement unit 12 b.

The over-the-air measurement system 10 may further comprise apositioning unit configured to position the device under test 11 withrespect to the first antenna 13 a and/or the second antenna 13 b (thepositioning unit is described in further detail below with reference toFIG. 2). By way of example, with the aid of the positioning unit, thedevice under test 11 can be moved in order to measure off center of atleast one radio frequency beam. In this context, the at least one radiofrequency beam may be emitted by at least one of the first antenna 13 aand the second antenna 13 b.

As further illustrated by FIG. 1, the radio frequency reflector 18 mayfurther be configured to reflect and/or parallelize the radio frequencybeams 15 a, 15 b emitted by the first antenna 13 a, which leads toparallelized beams 16 a, 16 b. Additionally or alternatively, the radiofrequency reflector 18 may further be configured to parallelize radiofrequency beams emitted by the second antenna 13 b and/or by the deviceunder test 11.

FIG. 1 further illustrates a radio frequency beam emitted by the deviceunder test 11, which may comprise a main lobe 19 a and two side lobes 19b, 19 c. By way of example, the first measurement unit 12 a may beconfigured to transmit a beam lock command to the device under test 11with the aid of the first antenna 13 a. By way of further example, thesecond measurement unit 12 b may additionally or alternatively beconfigured to transmit a beam lock command to the device under test 11with the aid of the second antenna 13 b.

Further, the first measurement unit 12 a and the second measurement unit12 b may be configured to exchange their functionality with respect toeach other. In other words, after the measurement units 12 a, 12 b haveexchanged their functionality, the first measurement unit 12 a may beconfigured to measure the radio frequency radiation of the device undertest 11 with the aid of the first antenna 13 a within the measurementfrequency range. By way of example, the second antenna 13 b may beviewed as a downlink and/or uplink antenna after the exchange.Advantageously, the respective downlink channel does not disturb themeasurement. By way of further example, before the exchange offunctionality with respect to the measurement units 12 a, 12 b, thefirst antenna 13 a may be viewed as downlink and/or uplink antenna. Byway of further example, the first antenna 13 a may additionally oralternatively be viewed as a steering antenna before the exchange offunctionality. By way of further example, the respective beam preferablyemitted by the device under test 11 (e.g., during the exchange offunctionality) may be locked with the aid of the above-mentioned lockcommand.

Further, with respect to the device under test 11, at least one of thefirst antenna 13 a and the second antenna 13 b may be placed innear-field or far-field.

FIG. 2 shows an example positioning unit configured to mount the deviceunder test 11 and to adjust the position of the device under test,within an example over-the-air measurement system, in accordance withexample embodiments of the present invention.

According to one embodiment, a first support member 17, which isconfigured to incorporate or hold the device under test 11, is connectedto a hinge 36 that is connected to a second support member 34 attachedto a first end of a rod 31, wherein the rod 31 comprises a thread 30 formoving the second support member 34 up and down, for example, with theaid of a motor 32 attached to a second end of the rod 31. By way ofexample, rotating the rod 31 with the aid of the motor 32 adjusts theheight of the second support member 34, and thereby also adjusts theheight of the first support member 17 and the device under test 11.

According to a further embodiment, the first support member 17 isattached to an actuator 33 in a tiltable manner with respect the secondsupport member 34, for example, via the hinge 36. By way of example,operation of the actuator tilts the first support member 17 with respectto the second support member 34 (via or about the hinge 36), and therebyalso tilts the device under test 11 with respect to the second supportmember 34.

Further, a shielding of the device under test 11 may be effectuated bythe second support member 34, the hinge 36 or similar element, to allowfor tilting the first support member 17 with respect to the secondsupport member 34. By way of example, a flexible shielding material 35may be connected to one end of the second support member 34 and to oneend of the first support member 17.

FIG. 2 further illustrates an example trace 37 of movement of the deviceunder test 11 in the case that the device under test 11 is moved down ina tilted condition, which leads to the helical trace 37.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of an example over-the-air measurement method,in accordance with example embodiments of the present invention. In step100, a communication link is established to a device under test with theaid of a first antenna connected to a first measurement unit within acommunication link frequency range. In step 101, a radio frequencyradiation of the device under test is measured with the aid of a secondantenna connected to a second measurement unit within a measurementfrequency range, wherein the communication link frequency range and themeasurement frequency range do not overlap each other.

By way of example, the communication link may comprise at least oneuplink channel and at least one downlink channel. By way of furtherexample, the communication link frequency range and the measurementfrequency range may be adjacent to each other with a frequency gap. Byway of further example, the first measurement unit may contain thesecond measurement unit.

Additionally or alternatively, the over-the-air measurement method mayfurther comprise the step of positioning the device under test withrespect to the first antenna and/or the second antenna with the aid of apositioning unit.

Additionally or alternatively, the over-the-air measurement method mayfurther comprise the step of reflecting and/or parallelizing radiofrequency beams emitted by the first antenna and/or the second antennawith the aid of a radio frequency reflector.

Additionally or alternatively, the over-the-air measurement method mayfurther comprise the step of transmitting a beam lock command to thedevice under test with the aid of the first antenna connected to thefirst measurement unit.

Additionally or alternatively, the over-the-air measurement method mayfurther comprise the step of transmitting a beam lock command to thedevice under test with the aid of the second antenna connected to thesecond measurement unit.

Additionally or alternatively, the over-the-air measurement method mayfurther comprise the step of exchanging the functionality of the firstmeasurement unit and the second measurement unit with respect to eachother.

Additionally or alternatively, the over-the-air measurement method mayfurther comprise the step of placing at least one of the firstmeasurement unit and the second measurement unit in near-field orfar-field with respect to the device under test.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it should be understood that they have been presented by way ofexample only, and not limitation. Numerous changes to the disclosedembodiments can be made in accordance with the disclosure herein withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, acurrent may be measured instead of a voltage. Thus, the breadth andscope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the abovedescribed embodiments. Rather, the scope of the invention should bedefined in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described with respectto one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modificationswill occur to others skilled in the art upon the reading andunderstanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. Inaddition, while a particular feature of the invention may have beendisclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, suchfeature may be combined with one or more other features of the otherimplementations as may be desired and advantageous for any given orparticular application.

What is claimed is:
 1. An over-the-air measurement system for analyzinga device under test, the over-the-air measurement system comprising: afirst measurement unit; a first antenna connected to the firstmeasurement unit; a second measurement unit; a second antenna connectedto the second measurement unit; and a radio frequency reflector; andwherein the radio frequency reflector is configured to reflect andparallelize radio frequency beams emitted by one or both of the firstantenna and the second antenna, wherein the first measurement unit isconfigured to establish a communication link, within a communicationlink frequency range, to the device under test via the first antenna,wherein the second measurement unit is configured to measure radiofrequency radiation, within a measurement frequency range, of the deviceunder test via the second antenna, and wherein the communication linkfrequency range and the measurement frequency range do not overlap eachother.
 2. The over-the-air measurement system according to claim 1,wherein the communication link comprises at least one uplink channel andat least one downlink channel.
 3. The over-the air measurement systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the communication link frequency range andthe measurement frequency range are adjacent to each other with afrequency gap.
 4. The over-the-air measurement system according to claim1, wherein the first measurement unit comprises the second measurementunit.
 5. The over-the-air measurement system according to claim 1,further comprising: a positioning unit configured to position the deviceunder test with respect to one or more the first antenna and the secondantenna.
 6. The over-the-air measurement system according to claim 1,comprising one or more of the following configurations: the firstmeasurement unit is configured to transmit a beam lock command to thedevice under test with the aid of the first antenna; and the secondmeasurement unit is configured to transmit a beam lock command to thedevice under test with the aid of the second antenna.
 7. Theover-the-air measurement system according to claim 1, wherein the firstmeasurement unit and the second measurement unit are configured toexchange functionality with respect to each other.
 8. The over-the-airmeasurement system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of thefirst antenna and the second antenna is positioned in a near-field or afar-field with respect to the device under test.
 9. An over-the-airmeasurement method for analyzing a device under test, the over-the-airmeasurement method comprising: establishing, via a first antennaconnected to a first measurement unit, a communication link to thedevice under test within a communication link frequency range;measuring, via a second antenna connected to a second measurement unit,radio frequency radiation of the device under test within a measurementfrequency range; and reflecting and parallelizing, via a radio frequencyreflector, radio frequency beams emitted by one or both of the firstantenna and the second antenna; and wherein the communication linkfrequency range and the measurement frequency range do not overlap eachother.
 10. The over-the-air measurement method according to claim 9,wherein the communication link comprises at least one uplink channel andat least one downlink channel.
 11. The over-the air measurement methodaccording to claim 9, wherein the communication link frequency range andthe measurement frequency range are adjacent to each other with afrequency gap.
 12. The over-the-air measurement method according toclaim 9, wherein the first measurement unit comprises the secondmeasurement unit.
 13. The over-the-air measurement method according toclaim 9, further comprising: positioning, via a positioning device, thedevice under test with respect to one or more of the first antenna andthe second antenna.
 14. The over-the-air measurement method according toclaim 9, further comprising one or more of: transmitting, via the firstantenna connected to the first measurement unit, a beam lock command tothe device under test; and transmitting, via the second antennaconnected to the second measurement unit, a beam lock command to thedevice under test.
 15. The over-the-air measurement method according toclaim 9, further comprising: the first measurement unit and the secondmeasurement exchanging functionality with respect to each other.
 16. Theover-the-air measurement method according to claim 9, wherein at leastone of the first antenna and the second antenna is positioned in anear-field or a far-field with respect to the device under test.